Misinterpreting The Boss
by Eurythmatix
Summary: Ziva believes that something is up between Gibbs and Dinozzo. But her super ninja skills prove her wrong when she realises that things are not as they seem.


**Author**: Janey Kay Roberts

**Summary: **Ziva believes that something is up between Gibbs and Dinozzo. But her super ninja skills prove her wrong when she realises that things are not as they seem.

**POV: **Ziva David

**Type: **One Shot

**oOoOoOo**

I used to not think anything was wrong with Gibbs leaning in too close to Tony until I heard him say one line that left me in disbelief. There I was sitting at my desk helping to get into contact with a Mr. Styles when Gibbs got up from his desk to walk over to Tony's. Being the secretive alert and intelligent agent I was (smiles) I glanced up to observe his movements. Coffee cup in hand he approaches Dinozzo's desk and as usual he leans in. Dinozzo appears unaffected by the boss' nearness but it always edges my nerves when I witness such an act.

First of all I get jealous because not once has Gibbs really gotten that close to me. Here I am being the woman in the group of field agents and he has not come up behind me to breathe into my ear. Not that I want him to. But it is strange considering that I am a woman. Or maybe he has realised that and refuses to do such a thing in case anyone starts to talk. Or maybe he does it and I do not even realise that he does.

Second of all I find it rather intimidating when he does that to anyone. He would come up behind whoever it was and get into their personal space like what he was doing with Tony right now. And just when I was about to scowl at his movements, I hear him whisper something that is quite inaudible from where I am sitting but the words are clearer than expected.

'Had a great time last night, Tony.' And he smiles. A rub on the shoulder and it is here that my eyes narrow suspiciously.

'Ah no problem, Gibbs', Tony says keeping his eyes on his monitor before him. 'It just happens. I end up wanting to do something and I end up doing something different. It happens. Just glad it was with you though.'

Gibbs chuckle and I want to get up and tackle him from across my desk. My cat instincts tell me that I am about to witness a little more than a 'lean in' affection between the two of them. And although I want to not watch my eyes remain on the two of them.

'Hope to do it again this afternoon, Tony', and Gibbs pinches Tony's right ear then turns around to head back to his desk.

I am fidgeting. I am also angry and confused. How is it that I have to witness everything and I have to be the one to feel obligated to do something about it? I take my stapler and slam it down smiling as the flattened staple flies out.

Tony looks up and smiles at me then winks. It is now that I take up my cell phone and flip it open. I dial a random number.

'Hello?'

'Who is this?' I ask.

'Who are you trying to get unto?'

'I am trying to get unto you shit face', I hiss, beginning to peel the Styrofoam coffee cup to shreds.

'Uh lady I think you have the wrong number.'

'I do not have the wrong number.'

'Then who are you trying to get unto?'

'Forget it asshole', and I flip the cell close. Smiling I notice Tony, Gibbs and McGee watching me.

'Everything alright, Ziva?' Gibbs asks observing me from at the right corner of his monitor. I smile and nod.

'Yes, boss. Everything is fine.'

The next hour flies by with Tony throwing me glances that are met with winks and smiles. And McGee remains focused on his computer. If it is one thing I hate about McGee is his ability to completely block out the world around him. He is the only other person in the bullpen that I want to witness this developing relationship between Gibbs and Dinozzo and yet he remains to be completely absorbed in cyberspace. I pound my fist on the desk.

Tony looks up and frowns. 'Ziva, Ziva...bad night?'

'Shut up Tony.'

He smiles. 'I forgot how you say that in Hebrew again. Can you –'

'Grab your gear', Gibbs announces from his desk as he jumps up then grabs his coat. 'Another dead marine in the same neighbourhood as the first victim: only this time it's a female.'

We all rise and I grab my bag from under my desk. I am waiting on it...waiting.

'Tony you ride with me. Ziva stick with McGee and McGee', he stops to look over at us, 'drive if you want to live to see tomorrow.' Scowling at Gibbs I follow McGee out throwing glances behind me as Tony waits on Gibbs.

We are now in the elevator and I stand purposely between Tony and Gibbs.

'Two victims in less than 48 hours, boss', Tony announces with a smile. 'Wonder if it's an 'on the rise' serial killer.'

Gibbs shrugs bouncing back on his heels, hands in pants pockets. 'Can't tell as yet, Dinozzo.'

So he choose to call him Dinozzo when he's with McGee and me but when they're one on one he refers to him by his first name. What is this? I am being paranoid? I do not think so.

When we get to the crime scene I am already furious and McGee has asked me if it is 'that time of the month'.

'I have already paid this month's rent, McGee', I say to him. He frowns at me and shakes his head then walks off with his markers to set them near evidence on the ground.

'Simple phrases she doesn't understand', Tony says as he walks beside me, a smile on his lips. I am now scowling. 'Like 'go steady' and 'blind dating'.'

'There is no such thing as blind dating', I say matter of factly, my camera in my right hand.

Tony throws McGee an 'I told you so' look and continues to point out my irrational ignorance to the English language.

'She has no clue who is Jack Sparrow and I don't believe she has ever seen or heard of Houdini.'

'Is that another actor?' I ask frowning. 'I do not watch much television.'

'Houdini is like history, Ziva', Tony says as he steps onto the front porch of the house. 'He was the greatest magician ever!'

'Never heard of him', I say as my eyes meet Gibbs who is standing near the doorway.

'McGee bag and tag evidence, Ziva take pictures and Tony assist Ducky since Palmer seems to have eaten a little too much breakfast this morning.' These are the orders from Gibbs.

The lunatics always find every opportunity to treat me as if I am unsure that I am not American. Like last Wednesday when Tony bought a burger from Burger King. I called it a sandwich in Hebrew and then translated it into English. Tony and McGee began to laugh admitting that 'burger' in Hebrew sounded like the sound an animal would make. I finished the conversation by pulling their chairs out from under them one by one. That was hilarious considering the fact that both of them were on the floor when Gibbs walked into the bullpen. He frowned then shook his head, demanding that they stop searching for their brains on the ground and get to work.

And now my eyes wander of the backdoor where the victim lies. Gibbs is looking outside at the corpse whilst Ducky is on his knees checking for time of death and for any lacerations to the body. I seek out Tony who is standing in front of Gibbs almost a foot apart. Something is said that is obviously funny and then I heard Gibbs laugh low as well as Ducky and Dinozzo. The boss then reaches out to squeeze Tony's right shoulder and I breathe out forcefully through my nose, my eyes narrowed. My fingers close around the camera in my hands as it lies pointed to the carpet where there are bloodstains.

'...dragged from the living room to the outside?' It is McGee speaking to me but my mind is obviously elsewhere at the moment.

'Right', I softly say and then sigh. Diverting my eyes from the triangle at the backdoor I get back to work.

It is only an hour after when I witness yet another intimate moment between the two sly lovers. We are now seated in Gibbs' vehicle heading home since McGee has chosen to use the other vehicle to transport the bags of evidence back to where today began. And I am now peering to the front, Tony and Gibbs' heads on either side of my vision arena.

'This time it was different', Tony is saying now as he sips from his Styrofoam coffee cup. 'He chose to take his victim out of the house unlike before when Marine Sergeant Thomas was found near the front door.

'Assuming that it is a serial killer', Gibbs notes keeping his eyes ahead. We turn into a highway.

'I do not think it is a serial killer', I say from the back seat.

Tony obviously feels threatened by me opposing him. 'Oh and why is that, Ziva?'

'First of all the killing method is different. He chose to strangle instead of slit her throat first like he did with Sergeant Thomas.'

'The chain of events doesn't matter', Tony says flinging his right hand up. 'So he chose to slit the other victim's throat first: the fact that both of them were strangled and their throats were slit leads us to believe that we are dealing with a serial killer.'

'Tony the chain of events does matter when you are considering a serial killer', I say as if him saying otherwise was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. 'And another difference was that of the victim's gender, they way the body was positioned: Thomas Andrew was lying face down and Annie Thompson was lying on her back.'

'What do you think, boss?' Tony asks almost too quickly. He loves to doubt me, to prove me wrong.

'Agree with Ziva. I don't think there's a high coincidence that it's a serial killer. Maybe two people were just unluckier than usual within forty eight hours.'

'I still think it is a serial killer.' I scoff in disbelief at Tony.

'People die every hour of every day, Dinozzo.'

'I know that boss. I'm just saying that –' Gibbs reaches out a free right hand to grab unto Tony's left hand.

'I understand where you're coming from Dinozzo', he says. 'We need to rely now on Abby and Ducky to prove your assumption as a correct one.'

'Right, boss.'

Right now my eyes are resting on Gibbs' hand that is still grasping unto Tony's. And as if suddenly remembering that I am in the backseat he releases his grip and grabs unto the steering wheel once more. I am left to only stare. Since when has Gibbs become so touchy with Tony?

Xxx

Stepping into the Men's Washroom with my eyes focused on him, I reach behind me and close the door. I lock it next and keep my back to the door.

'This reminds me of a movie that I saw on Cinemax once. You are now going to say 'I have been watching you from afar.' He keeps his eyes on the mirror before him and smile but it is a strained one.

'What will happen next?' I ask forcing to not smile because it might make the situation appear humorous.

'You then walk up to me, hips swaying and you reach out one hand to attempt to caress my neck right here.' And he points then turns around to look at me. 'Of course I move away unlike in the movie when things get intimate from there.'

'Ha ha ha', I say drily and I do walk up to him. 'We need to talk, Tony.'

'We always talk, Ziva', he says still trying to wipe the spilt coffee from off his white shirt. On exiting Gibbs' vehicle he had bumped his head on the roof and had spilled coffee all over himself.

'We have to talk about something personal.'

'Is this where you are going to confess your true feelings for me because the expression on your face,' and he smiles, 'doesn't quite fit the mood.'

'Tony stop being a stupid ass for once', I say angrily. 'This is a serious situation.'

'Okay', and he places his hands to his sides and stands at attention, his eyes seriously focused on me. 'I'm ready.'

I sigh. 'Tony must you make everything a joke? I constantly grow tired of your clownish antiques.'

'Antics', he says correcting me. And then his eyes are all over me, roaming my body from head to toe. I am left to allow myself to be scrutinised feeling that it is a trade off with me facing him like this. 'I've never seen you wear that outfit before.'

'That is because I have just showered and changed', I say as if it is obvious. 'This outfit was in my locker for emergency.'

'And why did you have to bathe and change?'

The fact is that I had gotten my period and had realised a little too late. I was sitting at my desk after we got back when I suddenly felt too wet. When I peered down the bottom of my khaki Capri jeans was soaked red. Blushing I had thanked the earth that neither of the males were around. I had called Abby to bring me a spare lab coat.

'Must you know everything about me?'

'You said that we needed to talk so...'

'That had nothing to do with why I am here', I say and I decide to jump to the reason why I am here. 'Tony what is going on between you and Gibbs?'

At first he just smiles at me and then when he sees that I am referring to something deeper he begins to colour with either rage or guilt.

'What is going on between the boss and I?'

'I asked that question. It is normal for you to give an answer.'

'I don't know what you're implying here, Ziva', he says questionably.

'I am not implying anything –'

'I can see it in your eyes that you are implying something here like the look Patrick Swayze had on his face when Baby asked if Jenny had been knocked up in Dirty Dancing.'

I am caught. 'He touched you today in the car on our way back.'

He remains silent but something is stirring behind his eyes.

'He touched you and then this morning I heard him tell you that he had a great time last night and he wanted to do it again tonight. Are you with the boss intimately Tony?'

He is furious now because his eyes are hot and boring into mine. I can see him clench his fists and slacken them as he figures out what to say to me, what movie reference to use.

'How dare you, Ziva!' he demands. 'How dare you do that?'

'I was only being observant!' I say because I had run out of things to say in defence. 'What I heard troubled me and I am concerned about you, Tony!'

'Stop being so concerned about me then! I am a grown man and I can do whatever I want to do!'

'How serious is it between the two of you?' I ask and he throws up his hands then sighs loudly. Reaching for the tap he turns it and fills his cupped hand with water. He then throws it unto his face and bends down over the sink.

'You're unbelievable, Ziva. You know I should be laughing at this but I am deeply hurt, scarred that you'd think of me in that way.'

'What?' I ask becoming confused. 'If you are gay Tony that would explain many things but I would never judge you I –'

'I am not gay!' Tony shouts turning to glare at me and then the door behind me whispers open.

'Well that's obvious', Gibbs says as he comes in looking from me to Tony and then to Tony again. 'What has Ziva done to you for you to question your sexuality, Dinozzo?'

'She thinks...' and he reaches up to wipe his face then scoffs, 'this is absurd.'

'What does she think?' Gibbs ask as he moves to the sink to wash his hands and face. My eyes are on him as he moves.

Smiling broadly finally, Tony turns to Gibbs and says, 'she thinks we have a thing going on with each other.'

Gibbs only looks back at him blandly. 'Be clearer, Dinozzo.'

'She thinks that the two of us are intimately involved', Tony says in disbelief, shaking his head maddeningly as he looks from the boss to me who is absolutely confused at this point. 'Yes that's right', he says when Gibbs looks shocked. 'Ziva is under the impression that you touching my hand today had something to do with lovers' affection like the way Barbra Streisand brushed the hair out of Robert's face in 'The way we were'.'

'And what made you think such a thing, Ziva?' Gibbs asks now and he is actually smiling. I am beginning to wonder if I am going crazy.

'This morning I heard you tell Tony that you had a great time last night and that you wanted to do whatever you had done again sometime soon. And then you were holding his hand and being a little more affectionate that usual with him today so I thought that you two had a romantic encounter.'

'Leave it to Ziva to use words that in most occasions give people terrible aches to say out loud', Gibbs says now smiling.

'Yea right. Tell he what we did last night, boss', Tony says looking at me now incredulously.

Gibbs steps up to me now and it is the first time I have ever found him so near me when he leans in to whisper into my ear. 'Tony was helping me learn how to make quick Italian dishes.'

Dinozzo laughs as he points at me. 'Yea that's right!' he says loudly. 'I was teaching him how to cook..._cook_, Ziva.'

'Cook?' I ask in disbelief. 'Why do you want to know how to cook Italian dishes, Gibbs?'

'I am on a diet', the boss says looking at me. 'Doctor's advice.' And he holds up one hand and brushes a lock of hair from out of my face. 'He did not advice me to sleep with another man though, Officer David.'

'I am-am...sorry, boss', I whisper and clear my throat. 'I think I must leave now.'

'That's right!' Tony continues to talk in high tones. 'Just like the time we were on the Chimera and you called my spot a f_reckle_.'

'It was a freckle, Tony', I say shaking my head attitude like. 'And for your information, everyone makes mistakes, even _you._'

'The two of you should get married and quit working here', Gibbs says laughing.

I scowl at Tony and step out of the washroom. Closing the door I face McGee who is looking back at me then at the door that has a plate on it with MALE in block letters.

'What are you –'

'Shove it, McGee', I hiss.

'I was thinking that maybe we could...you, Abby and I could grab an Italian take out when we leave tonight.'

'Eat it yourself!' I shout over my shoulder and I stride off towards the bullpen.

**THE END.**

**A/N – Please review and don't even complain about the way I wrote. It is from Ziva's point of view and I had to use simple words because of the way she talks. Other than that, a big smile to all of you. If you have read this out I am silently hugging you all in my mind like what Abby would do. Thanks!**


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